


Sometimes self-care is staring a God in the face and rolling to seduce.

by IceBreeze



Category: Bleach
Genre: AU where Starrk is a God and also a Dragon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dragon Coyote Starrk, Fix-It of Sorts, Found Family, Genderfluid Urahara Kisuke, God Coyote Starrk, God Urahara Kisuke, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, The Espada as Found Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23705965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceBreeze/pseuds/IceBreeze
Summary: This is a story, and it starts with Aizen. But no, not really, not quite, because he isn’t the important one here; he is an outsider to the world, a False King with stolen power and an army that doesn’t belong to him. He is not the true power in Hueco Mundo, not the heart of it, the beacon that all Hollows look towards when the moon isn’t bright enough. He is not the one they worship, and yet they follow him still, each for reasons as varied as their hairstyles. They follow him because he offered him something or because they have bad taste enough to like the man, but when it comes down to it, there is something else they worship.When it comes down to it, there is a God in Hueco Mundo that has been there since life had been breathed into the universe, a God who keeps a watchful eye on the desert and all who inhabit it. He is their God, who answers their prayers and protects them from harm, the only thing that is sacred to these beings of teeth and bone and hunger, and they worship Him in all the ways they can.There is a God sleeping in Hueco Mundo, and they call Him the Lonely One.In which Starrk is a God, Shunsui is smitten, and everybody gets a found family.
Relationships: Coyote Starrk & Urahara Kisuke, Ichimaru Gin/Grimmjow Jaegerjaques, Kyouraku Shunsui/Coyote Starrk, Lilynette Gingerbuck & Coyote Starrk, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 53
Kudos: 207





	Sometimes self-care is staring a God in the face and rolling to seduce.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is all coco's fault for dragging me into the bleach fandom and reminding me just how much I adored Starrk. I hope y'all enjoy.
> 
> Edited on 18/04 to add another scene at the end.

This is a story.

Like all stories, like every story, this story is a journey, and like all journeys it has a beginning- a place from which we can begin our way down this winding path, where the words gained meaning on the page in which they rest. There is a beginning, there is a middle and there is an end, and these are the doors through which we must pass; these are our signposts, the words our paths.

This is a story, and all stories start somewhere.

This is a story, and it starts in Hueco Mundo at a time where Las Noches has a Shinigami at its throne. This is not the only place it could started, nor is it the only time, but it is the easiest. It is the easiest as it doesn’t require the author to venture back several thousand years. That would require many words and a lot of time, and we do not stan this. We will never stan this.

This is a story, and it starts with Aizen. But no, not really, not quite, because he isn’t the important one here; he is an outsider to the world, a False King with stolen power and an army that doesn’t belong to him. He is not the true power in Hueco Mundo, not the heart of it, the beacon that all Hollows look towards when the moon isn’t bright enough. He is not the one they worship, and yet they follow him still, each for reasons as varied as their hairstyles. They follow him because he offered him something or because they have bad taste enough to like the man, but when it comes down to it, there is something else they worship.

When it comes down to it, they already have a God and it isn’t Aizen.

When it comes down to it, there is a God in Hueco Mundo that has been there since life had been breathed into the universe, a God who keeps a watchful eye on the desert and all who inhabit it. He is their God, who answers their prayers and protects them from harm, the only thing that is sacred to these beings of teeth and bone and hunger, and they worship Him in all the ways they can.

There is a God sleeping in the desert, bigger than a mountain and surrounded by a sea of bones, far away from all that is fragile, all that is alive. He has been there for thousands of years and He will be there for longer, alone in all the ways it matters, alone in the world but for worshippers He cannot go near.

There is a God in Hueco Mundo, and they call Him the Lonely One.

The thing is that, when it comes down to it, Aizen really doesn’t know as much about Hollows as he likes to think he does. He doesn’t respect them, for all that he appreciates their strength, and so he treats them like pawns on a board, like feral beasts who are easy to manipulate and easier to control. To Aizen they are soldiers to grease the wheels of his plans, as empty of thought and feeling as their name so suggests, and so he thinks he understands them as they need to be understood.

Aizen thinks that he knows all there is to be known about Hollows, and this is where he is wrong.

He is wrong, my dear reader, and it will be his downfall.

There are secrets in Hueco Mundo that all its residents keep, values and beliefs shared across the board, and for all that they are violent, for all that they are messy, there is a society to be found here, and it is a society that Aizen is an outsider to. A Shinigami, a man trying to reach into the very fabric of the universe and change it to his will, and he is dangerous. He isn’t trust worthy, not with something precious, not with something sacred, and so they do not trust him with it.

There are secrets in Hueco Mundo, and these are things that none would share with a man who is trying to become a God.

(“If you betray Him,” Harribel had said, a sword to Ulquiora’s throat, Fraccion snarling at her sides, “I will gut you and leave you as scrap meat for the lower ranks.”

“I know,” Ulquioura had, steady eyes and a steady mind, “I would never hurt our God, not in such a way.”

To prying eyes and ears it would have sounded like they were talking about Aizen.

My dear reader, they were not talking about Aizen).

Hollows have rules, customs and traditions, even if it is never so formally organised as such, and this is evident if you watch them interact. If you watch you can see the difference between fighting and _fighting_ fighting, the rituals of courting and all involved in it, the way that they organise into packs or lone wolves; the little things, the big things, it’s all there if you simply look and see them interact with the world.

If you watch you will see things, like how they will take the head of some kills and watch as they burn under the light of the moon.

(“Why do you do that? It seems like a strange amount of effort to put in,” Gin had asked, when Grimmjow leaned out of the window to throw a skull and watch it until it was ash. Of all the Shinigami he is the one the Arrancar like the most, the one to integrate with them, the one the most similar and yet the most different. He is the one they let the closest to the truth, but not too close. Never too close.

“It’s an offering,” Grimmjow said, hands thrust into pockets that he probably shouldn’t have considering how tight his pants are. Not that Gin would complain about that; it gave him a nice view, which was something sorely needed in a place like this. “A ritual for our kind.”

“Oho? So even Hollows can be religious.”

“You talk too much.”

“Ahh, you weren’t complaining about that last night, though.”

Grimmjow smirked, cocky in all the ways he was capable of, and tilted his head to the side, just enough to be condescending. “Are you going to fight me? Or am I going to have to shut you up some other way?”

Gin smiled at this, his eyes slitting open a tiny slightly as his hand went to Shinsou. It was an attempt to change the topic, and an obvious one at that, but Gin had always been indulgent to those he liked, and Grimmjoy was in that category.

And besides. He did so enjoy riling up the hot ones.

“Maaa,” he says, “So impatient. One might think you haven’t gotten laid in a while.” And then, “Shoot to kill, Shinsou.”

The fight didn’t end in answers so much as it ended with Gin being pinned against a wall and having the laughter fucked out of him, but well. That’s another story).

The Hollows have rules, unwritten and unspoken, and this is why, for all that Lilynette is not the strongest Espada, she is the one that they all treat with respect. Hollows do not fuck with Lilynette because she is the Favourite, the one who can approach the Lonely One without turning to ash. To fuck with her means to anger Him or those loyal to him, and so only the particularly stupid and the particularly ignorant join.

She is the one who makes the Lonely One less lonely, and so she is appreciated by Hollows far and wide.

Do not fuck with Lilynette, and this is a fact that Aizen learnt the hard way.

(“With all due respect, Aizen-sama,” Nelliel had said, eyes burning with a fire that would put hell to shame, fangs bared, “If you harm Lilynette, you will no longer be welcomed in Hueco Mundo.”

“Is that a threat?” Aizen asked, eyes cold and smile colder, his sword tipped in Lilynette’s blood. Lilynette is being held tightly by a grim faced Grimmjow as Harribel attempted to staunch the bleeding. Nelliel stands in front of them protective like a bear of its nest, her sword drawn and pointed at Aizen, and the rest of the Espada are gathered, watchful and silent.

Waiting for the moment that this false King steps wrong and gets torn apart.

“It’s a promise,” Nelliel says.

“You dare,” Aizen starts, a drop of blood falling from the sword and onto the ground, and the temperature drops.

Lilynette’s blood hits the ground, and something out there _screams._

Something screams, and it is loud enough to shake the earth and the castle built on top of it. The Arrancar grit their teeth and brace themselves in a huddle on the ground whilst Aizen looks out at the desert with the surprise of someone who is used to knowing everything and yet was not aware of this. It might have been called fear on a different man, but he is not a different man and so fear is not something he is capable of. Gin is nowhere to be seen as he was smart enough to stay away from the drama, and Tousen is unconscious on the ground.

And Lilynette, the white of her clothing stained red, reaches a hand up to where the moon shines bright in the sky, reaches toward the night that hangs unchanging over this wasteland they call a home, and somewhere- _somewhere_ \- the sky reaches back.

“I’m alright,” she whispers to something that is not there except for all the ways it is, “Don’t worry, you don’t need to do anything. Not yet, not now. I can do this, Starrk. I need to do this.”

There is a moment, two, three and then the scream quietens to a roar, to a mournful cry, and then to nothing at all. The silence is heavier in its absence, littered with the debris of the noise, and though the shaking has stopped the Espada do not yet dare move. There is a light as the wound on Lilynette shoulders disappears as if had never been there in the first place, and in her hand is a gun that she had not been holding before.

Lilynette looks down at this and smiles, says, “Thank you,” and in her other hand appears another gun.

Aizen stayed away from Lilynette after that, silently upping her to the rank of Cuatro, and this was perhaps one of his wiser decisions).

There are secrets in Hueco Mundo, secrets Aizen never thought to learn, and this was perhaps his biggest and only mistake. He was smart after all, and strong to boot, but arrogance was a flaw that could handicap anyone and Aizen was arrogant enough to not think the Arrancar were worth learning. He didn’t think about them as much more than soldiers and so he never learnt about the Lonely One, about the power that sleeps in the corner of the desert.

When it comes down it, Aizen fucked up and he fucked up big, and this is why this is not his story.

(The thing is, my dear reader, this is a story about war.

This is a war between Aizen and everyone else, and the soldiers he has dragged into the mix are the Hollows, the Arrancar- the elite of Hueco Mundo, the ones who have risen to the top of the food chain and stayed there.

This is a war that the Arrancar have no place in, not really, and yet still they fight, following behind the flag of a False King who believes himself a God.

This is a war in which the Arrancar will fight because there are things even they need, and this is something that the rest of the world has yet to learn.

This is a story about a war, and more importantly, it is about what comes afterwards).

It is the night before the final battle False Karakura, and in three worlds the participants begin to prepare. The Shinigami prepare their troops, their golden protagonist throws himself into another training montage, and Aizen sits upon his throne and smiles.

It is the night before the final battle and we find ourselves in Hueco Mundo, far enough away from Las Noches to not be visible but not too far as to catch attention, the Espada are gathered in a circle. Surrounding them are the remnants of their prey, beheaded and then eaten before being scattered like trash. In the centre of the circle is a pile of heads all arranged neatly.

“Oh, Lonely One,” says Barragan, “here is our offering to You. Tomorrow we shall fight a battle in a world that is not our own. Please watch over us.”

The pile of skulls burst into flames as blue as the sky in a world that is not this one, and they burn until the skulls are disappeared. In their place was ten scales, each as big a thumb and the colour of snow, and when the Espada pick them up the scales are warm to the touch.

 _“You have my blessing_ ,” a voice murmurs in their ears, the lap of waves against the shore, the distant crash of an asteroid many light years away, a kind hand against your back.

The Espada all hold on to the scales with all the gratitude they are capable, treating them like the treasures they are, but Lilynette’s is the only one that was different. Lilynette’s was silver instead of white, and it is just for her ears when the voice rumbles, _“Be careful. I cannot observe the world out there easily, but if you use this then I will hear you.”_

“You’re such a worrywart,” she said back, even as she slid the scale into the pouch hanging from her belt, “Just wait, I’ll show those Shinigami what it means to be the Lonely One’s Favourite.”

A laugh, like wind dancing through her hair, the brush of gentle snow against her face, of seeing the sun after a long night and knowing that despite everything, despite it all, there is still beauty in the world.

“I’ll show them not to mess with us, Starrk,” she whispered, scarcely loud enough to count as speaking at all, “and then I’ll bring the Hogyoku home.”

_“I’m proud of you.”_

That night, the Espada prepared themselves for battle by honouring their God and their God honoured them in turn.

That night, the Espada received a blessing, and little did they know that it was one they would sorely need.

Inspite of everything, Shunsui is a dutiful man. He does what is required of him to protect the people he is supposed to protect, and if he slacks off at the more finite things then- well. That’s fine, isn’t it? It’s useful, means people never quite now what to make of him, and then he can keep them on their toes. Keep them guessing, and besides; you don’t need to be a workaholic to be dutiful.

Shunsui is dutiful in that he will break the rules as easily as he will uphold them, will fight dirty and fight hard, manipulating as easily as he smiles. He is able to prioritise, to analyse, to see the things that slip through the cracks rather than the big picture and the big picture alone. He can smile and laugh and drink all day, but inside his head the wheels are greased up and turning endlessly.

Shunsui is dutiful, but more importantly than that he cares and he cares deeply, holding on to the people that he cares about and scarcely daring to let go.

Shunsui is dutiful, and this is why he is the one set to take the position of Commander-General when Yamamoto dies.

Shunsui is dutiful, but at times like this, in the middle of a war with a child as the enemy he needs to kill, he wishes he wasn’t. A child of all things, one who looks young enough to attend school with Kurosaki’s sisters, short enough that even Histugaya is probably taller than her, and yet she stands in the midst of a war.

She’s a child, and the blood she will leave on Shunsui’s hands is something that he’ll never be able to wash out.

 _It’s not a child,_ Yamamoto would have said, _it’s an Arrancar. A danger._

Yamamoto would have no more qualms about turning her into dust than he has about any enemy to soul society, a soldier right down to his very essence, a man who could burn a city to ash and walk away with his head held high. Yamamoto is a soldier and Shunsui is too, but even with all his ruthlessness, Shunsui is still human.

Shunsui is a soldier, but he is not Yamamoto. He’s too pretty for one, and too soft for another, caring too much and too often. Shunsui cares, compassion still strong inside him despite the sharpness of his soul, and so when he looks at the Espada in front of him he sees a child. A strong child, with guns in her hands and wolves in her soul, but a child nonetheless, and Shunsui feels an ache that’s a little like regret, a little like nausea.

She is a child, and Shunsui will kill her because he has to, but there’s not enough alcohol in the world to drown out the taste it would leave.

Shunsui thinks that he might Aizen for this, using the Arrancar as his pawns in this grand scheme to further his own greed, as puppets to throw into a war and die on a Shinigami’s sword.

Shunsui thinks he might hate Aizen for a lot of things, but making him fight a child with a bright eyes and a fierce heart is at the top of the list.

“You know,” he said, dodging out of the way of another Cero bullet, “you could still leave now. Return to Hueco Mundo and survive rather than throwing your life away in this war.”

“Hah?” Lilynette scrunched up her nose at him, frowning so hard it was a surprise Shunsui hadn’t burst into flames. “What the hell are you on about now? Of course I can’t just leave, we’re fighting. Are you trying to get out of fighting me? What, too lazy for it? You’re too lazy for it aren’t you, you dirty hobo man. You’re worse than Starrk- I like Starrk so He has rights to be lazy, but I don’t like you and you have no excuses. Hey, what the fuck is your baggage, old geezer? Are all Shinigami like this or did I just get the misfortune to fight the weird one?”

“Maaa, that hurts me,” and Shunsui keeps his voice light, his smile lighter. He wishes he had his hat still to cover the emotions boiling behind his eyes, but that had been collateral damage early on in the fight. “You’re so bloodthirsty. Are you really that devoted to Aizen?”

“To that asshole with a superiority complex? You’ve got to be joking, who would devote themselves to that. Well, other than Ulquiorra but he’s always had bad taste.’”

And wasn’t that interesting, hm. That this is not the mindless army they had expected, and instead Aizen’s elite soldiers didn’t seem overall fond of the man they are following. Oh sure, there were those would adore him, falling for that easy charisma and careful manipulation, but Lilynette was not one of them. Neither was the Tercera if her conversation was any indication, and it was a rush of vindication to know that even in Hueco Mundo there were those who could see through his lies.

Oh yes, Shunsui does not hate easily, but he hates Aizen and he hates him fiercely.

“You’re fighting for him. That generally implies some degree of devotion, if not much.”

Lilynette snorted, as derisive as Nanao whenever she finds him skiving off of work. “I fight for him for the same reason as the rest of us; he has something I need. Until I get it or he fucks up, I will fight for him.”

“What is it you need from him?”

“Do you always talk this much when you’re fighting?” She crossed her arms, eying him up with a very valid amount of distrust considering their situation. Under normal circumstances taking such a lax pose in front of the enemy would have been suicide, but considering the only attack that Shunsui has made in the past few minutes is to talk her to death, she’s valid.

“Only to those I respect.” This was only partly a lie. Shunsui always talked a lot, but it was only to the enemies that he respected that he conversed with like this.

He respects Lilynette, he thinks, and that would make killing her even harder.

“I thought all Shinigami were like Aizen.”

“Which is?”

“An asshole.”

Shunsui laughed at this, delighted inspite of it all, and oh, it was a shame that Aizen got to the Espada first. They would have been good allies, had Soul Society known that they could be reasoned with, and Shunsui is already far too fond of this girl with bright eyes and a broken mask on her head. It was a shame that she was here as Shunsui’s enemy rather than an ally, safe and sound back in Soul Society.

It was a shame.

“Aizen’s a special case,” he admitted, the truth and yet barely so. And then, because Shunsui had never been one to give up easily, “It must be something really important to you, for you to work with Aizen despite hating him.”

Lilynette scoffed again, turning her gaze to where Aizen was standing up above the whole scene, a cluster of Vizard trying (and failing) to defeat him. She stares at the scene like doing so will give her some kind of enlightenment from the Heavens, a quiet in her reiatsu like an ocean where no breeze can reach it, the stillness of a desert where the only life to be found is in a mountain of bones. Shunsui waits for her to speak with the patience that only comes from a thousand years of life, the kind of patience that is as deep as it is endless; a patience found in the darkness when you look up and see the stars.

Shunsui waits for long enough that Kurosaki joins the battle, reiatsu blazing like a forest fire trying to outdo the sun, but it is worth it when Lilynette sighs, her arms dropping to her side with something like acceptance.

It’s worth it because they get there in the end, like they always do.

“That thing that he has, the Hogyoku,” she says, “I heard it grants wishes. I need it to make mine come true.”

And oh, isn’t that something. Isn’t that a surprise, and if Shunsui were anyone else then his face would have given away the speed at which his thoughts were turning, the gears that churn and churn and churn until he has hundreds of theories and even more schemes. Until a few weeks ago they hadn’t even known that Hollows were capable of being more than beasts, and yet here they are now, having a civil conversation on the battlefield and learning just how very wrong the Shinigami may have been.

Here they are, conversing with a Hollow and learning that there was far more to their world than Soul Society had ever known.

“A wish?” he says around the weight in his throat, the shudder of a heart that does not which drum to beat to. “What is this wish that you need the Hogyoku for?”

Lilynette looks at him now, and in her eyes is a fierceness that matches the burn of her reiatsu, the sharpness of someone who has taken heat and turned into a something a little deadlier, a little more honed. She is a fire that burns hot and burns carefully, a fire that knows its strengths as well as its weaknesses, a fire that is fuelled by a determination that will never waver. Lilynette looks at him, so very young and so very old at the same time, and Shunsui felt a weariness settle into his bones.

Shunsui was tired of war, and yet war was not tired of him.

“It’s for Starrk, my pack. My-“ Lilynette started, and then paused, eyebrows furrowing as she sorted through the words and finding them in adequate. “Does Primordial and Favoured mean anything to you?”

It did not, so Shunsui shook his head.

“Fuck.” Then, “Uhhhhhh.” Then, cupping her fingers around her fingers around her mouth, she yells, “NEL HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE ME AND STARRK SO A HUMAN CAN UNDERSTAND IT?”

There was a crash from somewhere behind Shunsui, a pained grunt, and out of the corner of his eye Shunsui saw Ukitake go flying through the air. Then Nelliel yelled back, “FOUND FAMILY!”

“THANK YOU!”

“NO PROBLEM!” And then, a flash of green and white flying past with a sword drawn, “GOOD LUCK KILLING THE HOBO MAN!”

“AND TO YOU IN KICKING THE WASHED UP SNOWMAN’S WRINKLED ASS!” And then, to Shunsui again at a normal volume, “He’s my found family. He can’t move very easily and He’s really desperately lonely because He can’t go near people and I don’t like seeing Him sad. I want to help Him, and the Hogyoku can help me do that.”

So even Hollows were capable of love…

Shunsui was learning a lot, and none of it was making it any easier for him to commit to this fight.

“Why can’t He go near people?”

“People die near Him; He’s too strong.” And then, with something that might be pride, might be melancholy, “If He tried, He could dust the whole of Hueco Mundo with a push of His power. But He’s kind, so he does not.”

And, well. Isn’t that a terrifying possibility- a Hollow with enough reiatsu that it is impossible to survive around it. Shunsui is both immeasurably glad that Aizen did not recruit Him into his army, and surprised at the same time; surely this is something that Aizen would delight in? Or did Lilynette hide this Starrk’s existence from Aizen?

How is it that such a thing can exist in Hueco Mundo and go unnoticed for all these years?

“And yet you survived,” Shunsui points out.

“Because I’m His Favoured, duh. Are all Shinigami fucking stupid as well?”

“Ouch.” And then, “If you need the Hogyoku for this Starrk, why isn’t He with you?”

“Like fuck I’m letting Aizen near Him. Are you kidding me?” She huffed, “Even being eaten by Him would be too much of an honour for that bastard!”

“You must care very much for Him.”

“Of course I do. Is it so hard for Shinigami to believe that Hollows are capable of love?”

And, well. She had hit on the truth there. Lilynette might just kill Shunsui from confusion before they do so much as cross weapons, and if they do cross weapons then he’ll have to kill someone just trying to help their family. Shunsui is not drunk enough for this.

Shunsui will never be drunk enough for this.

“So yeah,” Lilynette said, when Shunsui was quiet for too long, “That’s why I can’t die to you, Old Man. I can’t die to anyone.”

Gods, Shunsui was too sentimental for this kind thing. Why did he always have to fight the good kids? Why couldn’t he fight an absolute bastard for once?

Is it too late to ask Ukitake to switch opponents?

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You’re making this hard for me, Espada-san. I truly wish I didn’t have to fight you.”

“Well,” she lifted her gun again, wolves forming around her, “Hopefully one of us will get our wish today, and by that I mean me.”

Shunsui drew his swords, heart settling down with a sigh, and then three things happened at once:

  * Somewhere close to the ground, Ichimaru was revealed to have been a double agent when he helped in the killing of Tousen, only for him to be yoinked away by one of the Espada.
  * High up over the battlefield, Barragan’s fight was rudely interrupted by Aizen stabbing him and absorbing his power.
  * And many captains found themselves without an opponent as a lot of the Espada yeet themselves to somewhere safer, and where is safer in this world then next to the one Favoured by their God?



“Well,” Ukitake said, “This is a bit of a mess.”

“It is,” Shunsui agreed, eyes on the Hollows in front of him. Hollows plural, because it had turned into a bit of a rave up here after that special b word we call betrayal. Nelliel had jumped over to Lilynettes side, sword still out and eyes wide, and Harribel appeared a second later, her fraccion clustered close around her. Grimmjow was the last to appear, princess carrying a very bemused looking Gin.

It was certainly what you could call a party, only no-one there was having what we would call fun. Except for maybe Aizen, who was killling valuable resources left and right, and Gin, who always looked like life was vaguely amusing.

“Well,” Lilynette said, “shit.”

“Shit,” Nelliel agreed, and this murmur was echoed through the other Hollows present.

“I’d say I’m disappointed,” Grimmjow said, “but that would have required me to have expectations of him in the first place.”

“Hm,” Harribel said, “I can’t imagine Barragan tasted good, either.”

“Can we assume the five of you are no longer willing to work for Aizen?” Ukitake asked, very politely.

“Duh,” Lilynette said, “Who the fuck is going to offer themselves up on a platter for this guy to cannibalise?”

“Ulquiorra,” Grimmjow said, looking at a spot in the distance, and sure enough in that exact spot was Ulquiorra, happily sacrificing himself to make Aizen stronger. It would have been almost touching, if it was literally anything else.

“Well,” Gin says, “F.”

“F,” the Hollows echo, and Shunsui exchanges a glance with Ukitake that basically amounted to ????? Is it some secret Hollow code? What does it mean?

“I guess we’re on your side now!” Nelliel says, bouncing a little, as if the prospect of working with the Gotei-13 to kill her old boss was delightful. And maybe it was, considering that it was the option that had the least high likelihood of them dying.

Maybe they could even make the alliance something longer term.

“And Ichimaru?” Shunsui asked. “I presume you have some kind of explanation for your part in this whole thing.”

Gin waved a hand airily, eyes not opening even as his head turned to the two Captains. “Talk to Urahara or Captain Hirako. They’re the ones I’ve been leaking information to.”

“So you’ve been a spy all along?

“Yep!”

“Lovely.”

“I love making friends!” Nelliel said. And then, “Oh, sorry for trying to kill you, Old Man Captain! It wasn’t personal!”

“Water under the bridge,” Ukitake said, smiling warmly.

“I’m not sorry,” Lilynette said, “And it was personal.”

“You’ll break my heart, Espada-san.”

“Good, I hope you choke on it.”

It was all very touching, to see this shared moment of bonding between once-enemies, now-something on the battlefield, but they were on a time limit. Aizen had to be defeated, and soon he would come for the remaining Espada.

Aizen had to die, and before he took the Arrancar with him.

“What do we do now?” Harribel asked, holding onto her Fraccion like a mother hen to her chicks. “We could flee back to Hueco Mundo. He can’t find us there, not if we don’t want him to.”

“I still need the Hogyoku,” Lilynette said, looking rightfully disgruntled, “That could be the only thing to help Starrk and I’m not losing it just because Aizen is a dick.”

“We could kill him,” Grimmjow suggested, sounding like doing such a thing would give him enough serotonin to power a rocket engine.

“Sorry, Grimm-chan,” Gin said, not sounding sorry at all, “But if Aizen could be killed by someone at your level, then the Captain’s would have succeeded by now.”

“Are you saying I’m too weak to kill that bastard?”

“You said it darling, not me.”

Grimmjow grumbled, but instead of dropping Gin to the ground or something like that he merely held on tighter, and Gin’s arms wound around his neck, looking perfectly comfortable to just hang there for a while. There was something going on there, and under different circumstances Shunsui would have been delighted to hear all the details. He did so love a love story after all, and one involving players as colourful as those two would no doubt be delightful.

Unfortunately, smack bang in the middle of a war is not the kind of spot to gossip. Gin was right after all; there was nothing any of them could do. Ukitake and Kyouraku had already witnessed Kyouka Suigetsu’s shikai and were thus easily subject to the illusions, and the Arrancar were liable to just be absorbed by Aizen. He was powerful, frightfully so, and that was why they had brought in a high schooler to help them fight a war; that was why they were all spread thin, doing what they could in unfavourable circumstances.

There was nothing they could do. Except-

“Wait,” Lilynette said, something like delight dawning in her eyes, a realisation that turned her frustration into something a little warmer, a little fiercer, a little sharper. “Grimmjow, you’re a genius!”

“I am?”

“He is?”

“Yes! We just have to make Aizen die!”

“Lilynette, we’re not strong enough to kill him,” Nelliel said.

“I know! That’s why someone else is going to do it for us!” Lilynette had put her weapons away and was rummaging in the pouch around her waist, as if whatever was in there was something that could change the tide of the war.

“You don’t mean-“ Harribel said, looking a little pale. “Lilynette, surely He shouldn’t have to debase Himself to this level-“

With a triumphant crow, Lilynette pulled out what looked to be a silver scale, and the other Espada exchanged wide eyed looks. Something about this statement frightened them, something they understood where no-one else did, and Shunsui wondered who exactly they meant by ‘He.’

(He had an idea, but there were too many missing pieces in this puzzle and Shunsui wasn’t sure what to make of the picture it was forming)).

“Brace your asses!” was the only warning Lilynette gave, and it was a warning that the Espada followed immediately, dropping down into a huddle on the roof below them. Ichimaru was cradled protectively in the centre of the huddle along with Harribel’s fraccion, and with only a moments hesitance Shunsui and Ukitake followed suit, landing in a crouch on the same building.

Once they are all settled, Lilynette holds the scale to her chest in both hands, feet spread into a steady stance. She takes a deep breath, and then, shoving reaitsu into the scale until it’s like a beacon in her grasp, she yells. It is not a normal yell, no; it’s the kind that resounds through the battlefield, the kind that could burst ear drums and stop hearts in the same moment, the kind of yell that could be heard even in another world-

**_“OI STARRK, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE! I NEED YOU TO EAT A MAN FOR ME!”_ **

There is silence, the entire battlefield paused in that way of people who are not entirely sure how to process something, and for a moment we have a strange tableau of a bunch of people with swords all looking around with a mountain of question marks in their heads that only grows larger with every breath. Lilynette drops to join the group the roof, standing beside them with eyes fixed on a point in the sky and a supernova clutched within her hands. The Espada all shift closer to each other, reaching out and holding on so that they’re all huddled close, all touching each other, and from where he is still clutched tightly in Grimmjow’s arms, Gin murmurs something too quiet to catch, the question clear in his face. Whatever answer he receives is accompanied by one of Nelliel’s hands gently guiding his head to rest against Grimmjow’s shoulder, her body pressed close to their sides.

There is silence, and then the earth shakes, shakes apart, the ground groaning in fear of something that is yet to come.

There is silence, and then the sky is torn apart at its seams-

-and False Karakura is brought to its knees.

Shunsui’s last thought upon the sky being ripped open was a very eloquent, and very appropriate, _‘What the fuck-‘_

Then the reiatsu hit and it was hard to think at all.

As a Captain, Shunsui had a considerable amount of reiatsu himself and was very used to being around others as strong as- or stronger than- him. He is not new to the sensation of someone attempting to shove at you with their power, and he thought himself rather good at withstanding it. After a thousand years of life the only one who can reliably bring him to his knees is Yamamoto, and even then it takes a little effort from the old man.

(Unohana was also capable of it once upon a time, and Shunsui had no desire to learn if she was still capable of doing so).

Shunsui is a Captain and a strong one at that, and yet, in the face of this spiritual pressure he feels like an ant in the face of something far bigger than he can hope to understand. Had he not already been on the ground then it would have knocked him over, and as it stands its still a close thing to him being knocked out.

Shunsui is strong, and yet in the face of this thing that has reached out its hand and brought the world to its knees, this feels like a lie.

The sky tears open and reiatsu comes flooding through, and it feels a little like dying. Hard to breathe and harder to stay conscious, floating in a space vast enough that once you’ve lost yourself you’re lost forever. It feels like dying with your lungs crushed under a weight they were never meant to hold, heart shuddering through each beat as if the power was seeping in through the cracks and digging in, digging deep. It feels like dying in pain, in agony, drowning under the weight of something no world was built to hold; drowning inside a force that overwhelms without even trying, a force that makes Soul Society and all within it look small by comparison.

False Karakura is flooded with something it cannot hope to understand, shuddering under a weight it was not built to bear, and in the middle of it all Shunsui feels like he is drowning in an ocean of darkness and light, electricity and fire, water and air, life and death and loneliness, it’s everything, it’s nothing, it’s too much, too much, _too much-_

It feels like dying under the weight of the universe itself, and this is perhaps the first time in many years that Shunsui has been afraid.

Only Lilynette is still standing, the rest of False Karakura brought down to the ground by the hand that pushes until there is no-one left to push. Some have been knocked unconscious by this power too strong for them to bear, others are on the ground unable to do more than lift their heads, and others are on their knees, winded and frightened. This is a power that does not distinguish between Captain or Seated officer or human, old or young, this is a power that does not discriminate because it, all is the same.

To a being with power as vast as this, everyone is an ant that can be crushed with little more than a thought.

To a being with power as vast as this, tearing Soul Society and the human world apart would be easy, so frightfully easy, and when Shunsui shudders it’s not just from the sharp edges coiled around his skin, the endless curtain smothering him.

Shunsui shudders because he knows this is a power they could never hope to beat, and it is terrifying, it is endless-

_It_

_is_

_here._

Slowly, oh so slowly, as if to so much as move was difficult, a head came through the portal, and then a neck, and then-

Oh, Shunsui thought, shakily, tinged on the edges with something that wasn’t fear, _Oh._

It was a dragon, if dragons could make the ground crack under the weight of a single step, the crash carrying through from a world joined to this one by only a rip in the sky.

It was a dragon, if dragons could block out the sun with its head, scales shining bright enough to take its place.

It was a dragon, if dragons were large enough that time itself seemed distorted, like this was a thing of long forgotten times that had been hidden away until the day it brought reckoning upon the world, as ancient as it was big and yet, more ancient still.

It was a dragon with scales of white and silver, scales bright enough that they gleamed under the sun, bright enough to be a light in a world without a sun. Around part of its head and neck are bones, an armour for a creature who does not need it, a sign that it is- to some degree- a hollow, just a little, just enough.

It was a dragon, and it was one of the most beautiful things that Shunsui has ever seen.

It was a dragon, larger than life and more powerful, and yet it was, it was, _it was-_

It was a dragon, and yet more than that it was a God.

It stopped in the portal with only its head and some of its neck out, making no move to go any further, and Shunsui wondered how far it went on for; how much bigger could one creature get? How much more powerful was it? Could it kill them all here, if it fully stepped through into this False city?

How much mercy did it have to spare them from finding that out first hand?

“Starrk!” Lilynette yelled (a normal yell this time, not the yell of someone trying to break the space-time continuum), jumping up and down on the spot with the kind of waving that could be more accurately described as windmilling. She seemed more like a child now, fangs visible through the full force of her smile, and Shunsui wondered, a little dizzily, if he should have pressed her about what a Primordial was. “Starrk, eat Aizen! Eat him quick! He has the thing and also tried to kill the pack and is a jerk and needs to be dead yesterday!”

There was a rumble, low and deep, and the buildings shook, the wind picked up. Starrk- because this must be His name, and under different circumstances then Shunsui would have tried to make a pun from this- turned His head slowly to look down at her with eyes that seemed like you could fall in and drown. He looked at Lilynette, at the building where Espada and Shinigami alike are clustered, and Shunsui saw that His eyes were like the moon, like the ocean, like stars caught in a sky of eternal dusk, like seeing a horizon for the first time, soft and bright and full of so much emotion that to so much as brush the surface would mean to get lost.

Shunsui wondered if this is what it was like to witness a miracle, to stare the Heaven’s in the face and know that they look back.

 _“Lilynette,”_ Starrk said, a chorus of songbirds, the rush of rain before the thunder hits, “ _Are you alright?”_

“I will be when you eat Aizen!”

A slow blink, considering, and then the head moved once again, this time to where Aizen was, the neck not even stretched out to its full height to reach that high in the sky. Aizen was down on one knee, sword hanging from limp fingers, and he grabbed it, trying and failing to scramble to his feet. This was unexpected, unprecedented, and to a genius like Aizen, such things were like a slap to the face. 

Aizen was a genius and that came with a side of pride, and yet here was a God and here was its wrath.

 _“You are Aizen?”_ and it is the politeness of one who already knows the answer, the rumble of an earthquake that shakes until there is no world left to shake.

“Yes I am,” Aizen says, his voice weak, his smile weaker, a False King brought to his knees in front of the one who truly held the crown, “If I had been aware that Lilynette had something like you up her sleeve I would have offered you a spot in my army. You would have been welcomed.”

 _“Hmmm,”_ And then, after a pause, “ _I’m going to have to kill you now.”_

And He does. It’s almost anticlimactic really; Starrk opens His massive jaws and swallows Aizen whole. The man couldn’t even attempt to run, let alone fight, and It doesn’t even look like Starrk would have noticed him going down considering that Aizen wasn’t even as big as one of Starrk’s teeth. Aizen may have been strong, strong enough to reach out for the Heavens and have the Heavens reach back, and Starrk was stronger.

Aizen may have made himself in the image of a God, but Starrk was a being who cradled three worlds in the palm of His hand and could eat them raw, if He so chose.

Aizen had wanted to become a God, and yet in the end he became a God’s snack.

There is a sigh then, the gust of air powerful enough to send poor Kurosaki flying, though perhaps that is a mercy in comparison to the grand sacrifice he’d been prepped for, like this were an anime and he the hero. Perhaps it is a mercy to merely be yeeted by a God who scarcely notices your existence instead of losing your powers and your identity for the sake of taking down the big bad.

The weight of His power has not lessened; if anything, it has grown, as if eating Aizen has enabled Him to absorb his power the true Hollow way, and Shunsui wonders what wish it is that Lilynette wanted to grant Starrk. Shunsui wonders, because when the body can’t move the mind must work double. This was a war and the enemy is defeated, but now there is something bigger here, and they do not now if it is friend or foe.

Friend would be nice, Shunsui thinks. There is no chance of victory if they have to fight something they can’t even stand near, and besides, it would be a shame to fight something so beautiful. Beauty is meant to be appreciated, after all, and Shunsui has always been an expert at it.

Back on the roof, Lilynette’s break shook, eyes never once leaving Starrk, and she murmured, “Please. Please let this work, please oh please oh please-“ but what do you pray to when your God is the one you are praying for?

Starrk’s neck droops as if the mere act of standing is tiring, and He sighs again, eyes sliding shut.

“ _Hm,”_ He says. _“Hmmm.”_

And then-

_light._

(High above False Karakura, unnoticed and unseen, there is a figure perched on a sword. The figure is one that could be called a man, with eyes like an ocean without life, of steel polished and steel sharp, the eyes of death and life and all in between; a figure who is a shadow in the dark, They who walks the road of mortals. This figure could be called a man, but this is no more accurate than to call Them human, Shinigami, or Hollow. It wouldn't be wrong, but it wouldn't be right, and with one such as Them, to leave grey area is to leave room for Them to reach out pull.

There is a figure perched above False Karakura, hidden from all who might look, and this figure is a God. They are a God, and they have always been watching and waiting, waiting and watching, reaching out with quick fingers and a quicker mind to tug the world to fill Their plans. They have many plans, each with just as many back up plans, but there is one plan in particular that is Important with a capital letter. There is one plan They have been working on for thousands upon thousands of years, a plan that They hold on to with desperate fingers and a heart that yearns. It is a plan, and it is for Their Brother. 

There is a God above False Karakura, and They have a brother. They had many brothers once, and sisters, and siblings, but there was one brother that They loved above all, and this is the brother They want to help now. This is also Their only brother now, and one that They have been separated from for many years; a brother too powerful for even another God to go near without turning Them to dust.

There is a God above False Karakura, and They have a brother that They have not seen in thousands of years because They are too weak and He is too strong. For so very long They have worked to try and reunite, waited and watched and schemed, and finally it has come to fruition. Finally Their plan has worked, and Their wish will be granted in the same breath that it grants His.

There is a God above False Karakura, and They look at Their brother’s face for the first time in far too long, and They know that soon They will be together again.

High above the False Karakura, The Hidden One watches The Lonely One be consumed by light, and smiles).

**Author's Note:**

> My tumblr is [@polyhymina.](http://polyhymina.tumblr.com/)
> 
> My twitter is[@littlemisswrit3.](https://twitter.com/littlemisswrit3)


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